Your Guardian Angel
by Savage Daz
Summary: Kloppman observes his newsies. SLASH Javid, Blush, Sprace, Sputchy, Snitteryif you squint. Please read and review


**Idea came while listening to Your Guardian Angel by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. Thus the lyrics are put it along with it. I know that the song doesn't officially have anything to do with the story, but it gave me an idea, so I ran with it.**

**There are hints of the classic couples that I'm sure will appreciate: Blush, Sprace, Sputchy, Javid, and Snittery if you squint.**

**Oh. And I'm keeping the names that have become a universal agreement when it comes to Race and Spot. I've read so many Sean/Tony fics that it would sound weird any other way, so don't pick on me for joining the trend :)**

_When I see your smile  
__Tears run down my face I can't replace  
__And now that I'm stronger I've figured out  
__How this world turns cold and breaks through my soul  
__And I know I'll find deep inside me I can be the one_

As evening falls, the newsboys of Manhattan begin to trudge into the Lodging House, saying good night to friends and girls alike, not quite ready for another night of bitter dreams and smelly, hard mattresses, but not having any other options. Anyone who stayed out after hours was locked out for the night and forced to find other places to sleep. Of course, Kloppman sometimes made exceptions on the bitterest of winter nights. He was strict, but he wasn't going to sentence the late boy to death by making him sleep outside.

He counted heads mentally as they came through the narrow door and dropped their toll into the jar and signed their names. There was Jack, eyes downcast, from another fight with Sarah, Kloppman presumed. Kid Blink came in, surprisingly without his normal partner in crime. He had a permanent looking scowl etched on his face. Mush came in a few minutes later, and glanced at Kloppman before trudging up the stairs. His eyes were red.

Most of the motley crew had seemed to have a bad day. No one was joking, laughing, or even smiling. Skittery walked in with a smug smirk on his face, but judging by Snitch's tear stained cheeks, it had been at the expense of some hurt feelings.

_I will never let you fall  
__I'll stand up with you forever  
__I'll be there for you through it all  
__Even if saving you sends me to heaven_

Kloppman sighed. After the line had begun to dwindle he noticed the mysterious absence of one wisecracking, smug Italian newsie. He reached out and grabbed Bumlets' arm, who was one of the last boys in.

"Hey! Where's Racetrack?" Bumlets shrugged and jerked away, stomping up the stairs. Kloppman sighed again, mirrored the boy's shrug with a quick jerk of his thin shoulders, and closed the book. Race knew the rules, and this wasn't the first time he had been out overnight. He went to lock the door, and heard voices outside. He was about to open the door and tell the clearly male adolescents to come inside or clear off when it struck him who they were.

Racetrack and Spot were arguing. Something in Spot's tone made Kloppman refrain from intruding, and Race's low, desperate voice made him listen silently, against his better judgement.

"You can't just pretend none of this ever happened!"

"It'll be better than keeping this up."

"Why? What's so wrong about this?"

"Everything's wrong, Race! Can't you see that? What we're doing is wrong."

"You didn't think it was wrong earlier."

"Keep your mouth shut, Higgins. I'm warning you. Don't come to Brooklyn anymore. Just stay away."

"Sean, I-"

"Save it, Tony. This is the last time you ever call me that, understand? After tonight, we have to go back to Spot Conlon and Racetrack Higgins."

_It's okay  
__Seasons are changing  
__And waves are crashing  
__And stars are falling all for us  
__Days grow longer and nights grow shorter  
__I can show you I'll be the one_

Kloppman turned away and went back to the desk, and was finishing counting out the money when Racetrack finally came in a long moment later. His head was high and his poker face was firmly in position. He even cracked a grin when he saw the old house keeper sitting there, looking at him over the top of his glasses. But he didn't speak a word, and after paying he spun and walked up the stairs, his lonely footsteps echoing in Kloppman's heart. He sat for a long while, wondering at the cracked and bruised hearts of his boys, before he carefully made his way up the stairs, taking pains not to wake up the lighter sleepers by stepping on creaky steps.

Every night, before going to bed, he would go up the stairs in the same fashion and look at his boys for a long moment. Some nights there would still be boys up, perhaps playing poker or talking quietly. Other nights someone would have a nightmare, or just need company. Sometimes he would come up to find Skittery or Specs in a rare, tender moment, holding a young newsie in his arms, telling him a story or assuring him. On a few nights, he had seen more than one newsie sharing a bed that hadn't gone to bed together. He never said a word, only pulling the blankets on the floor over the entangled limbs, or slinging an eye patch over a bed post.

Tonight, no one seemed to be awake. There was sniffling coming from a bunk somewhere in the middle, but he didn't want to bother the boy who was shivering and sniveling into his pillow. No doubt he would shy away from the old keeper, so he instead walked down the other row of bunks, looking at each boy.

_I will never let you fall  
__I'll stand up with you forever  
__I'll be there for you through it all  
__Even if saving you sends me to heaven_

Jack was lying on his back, his arms thrown out haphazardly. His chest was slow with even breaths, but his forehead was creased. He looked like a picture of the Messiah that his mother had kept up on the tall table long ago: the savior of the lost boys. He sighed and looked on, when something caught his eye.

Someone was sitting up, on the top bunk. No, two people were sitting on one of the top bunks. The moonlight shone over them, illuminating them. Blonde hair glowed silver on one, and the shine of glasses glinted when the other turned his head quickly at the sound of a whimper from somewhere in the room. They sat, side by side, murmuring low. Kloppman didn't even try to listen, but made sure to step on a rather creaky board to warn them of his presence. They quieted, but remained together silently.

Turning away, Kloppman saw Mush curled up on his side, blankets balled up around his feet. The moonlight caught his face for a brief moment, illuminating unusually bright eyes. He turned at a small sound from another bunk, to see Blink sliding off the top bunk onto the floor, careful not to disturb Racetrack, who was sleeping below. He crept across the floor, and then caught sight of Kloppman and froze, staring. Normally Kloppman would have scolded him and sent him back to his bunk, but something about that night stopped him, and he nodded at him, before turning away.

He walked over to Race's bed and pulled the blanket up over the boy's tense shoulders, and headed back downstairs to make himself some tea, and fell asleep, worrying about his boys as per usual.

_Cause you're my, you're my true love, my whole heart  
__Please don't throw that away  
__Because I'm here for you  
__Please don't walk away,  
__Please tell me you'll stay, stay_

The next morning, eyes still heavy with sleep himself, Kloppman rose before dawn as he always did. When the sun's first light began to touch the windows of the Lodging House, he clumped up the stairs with his broom to awaken the boys from their much sought after rest. They had important things to do today.

He walked in, and saw that there were a few newsies already awake. Perhaps they hadn't even fallen asleep at all. Jake, his bowler hat in his hands, sat at the foot of Pie Eater's bed, waiting. His eyes caught Kloppman's and he smiled for a moment, before turning back.

Racetrack was sitting up in his bed, playing a game of solitaire. He, too, looked up when the keeper creaked in, but he didn't smile. The circles under his eyes were so dark that Kloppman winced inside, but even more so at his eyes. The poker face had cracked, and he looked hopeless and lost. Kloppman knew he had no way of fixing whatever was wrong, so he merely shook his head and began poking the sleeping boys.

He came to Mush's bed, and smiled when he saw Blink there as well, his head tucked under Mush's chin. The eyepatch dangled from his hand. Kloppman tickled Mush's foot, which woke him up immediately, and turned to swat Boots with his broom, who had gone back to sleep behind his back.

The morning dawned clear, crisp, and cool. The boys jumped down the stairs, eager to improve this day over yesterday by light years. Kloppman was in the front, walking outside to go to the post office. He was startled to see David standing, waiting for someone. Any unanswered questions were immediately laid to rest when Jack sidled up to him, grinning shyly.

_Use me as you will  
__Pull my strings just for a thrill  
__And I know I'll be ok  
__Though my skies are turning gray_

Kloppman chuckled to himself, and began to head down the street in the opposite direction of the newsboys. Today was promising to be one very fine day.

Nine long, work filled hours later, he was wondering what the heck he was thinking earlier, when he saw his boys in the windows, back from a long day of peddling newspapers. Their grins were enough to cheer him up. Jack and David were among the first. Jack had that look in his eye that looked a bit like when he thought about Santa Fe, and David was just smiling stupidly. Les was outside still, playing tag with a few of the other boys. When David signed in for the two of them, Kloppman didn't bat an eyelash.

What did surprise him, however, was when Racetrack came in a few moments later. He almost always came just before Kloppman locked the door, trying to stay in Brooklyn for just a few moments longer. He slumped down on the second from the bottom step on the stairs and wrung his hat in his hands. His face was stony, but his eyes were despondent.

As the rest of the boys began to come in and the sky began to grow dark, Kloppman gave them all one last look: Jack and David talking in low voices to each other, their hands 'accidentally' brushing every now and then. Mush and Kid Blink sitting too close near the poker game, started by Skittery and Itey. Skittery was, of course, letting Snitch win, since Race's head was clearly not in the game. He kept glancing up at the window, and once his face tightened when he saw a pair of tell tale blue eyes peering in, directly at him. They stared at each other for a moment, blue meeting brown like the sky meets the earth, and then Race looked back down at his cards, breaking the gaze. He looked up tentatively a few minutes later. There was no one there.

Kloppman sighed, and then turned back to counting the money. Rome wasn't built in a day, after all.

_I will never let you fall  
__I'll stand up with you forever  
__I'll be there for you through it all  
__Even if saving you sends me to heaven_

**Well there you have it. My contribution. I hope it works. It took me a good six hours. I know that's not very long, and it's not very good, but I hope that some people will actually read and review.**

**Hope you liked. I tried to throw in things that everyone would like.**


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